The Canada Egypt Business Council “CEBC” held another event in the series of functions discussing the impact of the global economic crisis, and its gloomy shadow on different business sectors in Egypt. This event’s guest speaker was H.E. Dr. Tarek Kamel, Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

The event attracted most of the prominent figures in the ICT industry as well as more than 300 outstanding members and guests. The CEBC Chairman Mr. Motaz Raslan inaugurated the event by recognizing the audience from CEBC members and guests, cabinet ministers as well as foreign ambassadors to Egypt who were among the event’s attendees including Ambassador Ferry de Kerckhove, Canada’s Ambassador to Egypt, The Honorable Margaret Scobey, U.S. Ambassador to Egypt, Dr. Yousry El-Gamal, Egypt’s Minister of Education, Dr. Ahmed Darwish, Egypt’s Minister of State for Administrative Development, Dr. Aly Moselhy, Egypt’s Minister of Social Solidarity, as well as Dr. Safwat El-Nahas, Chairman of the Central Agency for Organization and Administration.

Mr. Raslan went on to discuss the progress of the ICT sector in Egypt. He mentioned the sector’s influence over the state’s treasury as well as a gear for job creation noting that ICT was more resilient than other sectors whether locally or globally as the sector still enjoys a growth rate of approximately 15%.

“Although the global markets are witnessing a state of recessions, however, the recent circumstances are very appropriate for the local and international ICT companies to enhance cooperation with various business sectors through solutions, services, innovations and business plans derived from current needs.” Mr. Raslan added.

He further explained that the current revolution in the sector categorizes Egypt as one of the advanced countries of the Middle East, which particularly have been brought about by the introduction of competition in mobile communications and Internet service provision. He finally concluded his speech by praising Dr. Nazif’s influential role, who had formed the foundation stone in flourishing ICT sector in Egypt and building a strong and durable information society that firmly position Egypt among its peers in the international arena.

Raslan then gave the floor to Ambassador Ferry de Kerckhove, Canada’s Ambassador to Egypt who expressed his appreciation to the CEBC efforts and assistance in strengthening the bilateral relations between Canada and Egypt. He further explained that Canada and Egypt have recently enjoyed a very fruitful economic and trade relations despite the negative effect of the world’s financial crisis, knowing the fact that the bilateral trade increased nearly by 70% during 2008 and is about to reach two billion dollars soon.

The Canadian Ambassador went on describing the ICT as an essential tool for promoting democracy throughout the dispensing of information from all quarters as well as being a vehicle for educating public in addition to providing various options and choices. “The ICT is one of the main sectors for endorsing Canada’s welfare, competitiveness, as well as sustainable growth, noted Ambassador Ferry. The sector consists of around 30,000 companies employing around 600,000 professionals and has contributed by 58 billions dollars in Canada’s GDP in 2007 with an annual growth of 5% since 2002.”

He also commended Egypt’s ICT progressive development, pointing out to the huge gains in computer and Internet usage that he saw first-hand during his stay in Cairo and during his visit to the Smart Village. “In my recent visit to the Smart Village I witnessed the remarkable advancement of the ICT sector in Egypt; in fact the Egyptian companies are widely recognized regionally and globally which mirrors the Egyptian successful strategy in progressing telecommunications in Egypt. It is also worth mentioning that Orascom Telecom is investing 700 million dollars in GSM network in Canada”, added the Ambassador.

The Ambassador concluded his speech by demonstrating the embassy’s plan to initiate new levels of bilateral cooperation in ICT through creating a platform for developing business linkages specially in the IT sector where Canada enjoys a competitive edge as well as endorsing both Canada’s and Egypt’s commitment to mutual progress.

Following the Canadian Ambassador’s remarks, H.E. Dr. Tarek Kamel took the podium to deliver his keynote speech on the role of communications and information technology describing it as a catalyst for developing the country’s economy by playing a pivotal role in overall socioeconomic development in Egypt.

“Moreover, the ICT sector has accomplished a significant revolution. It has transformed itself from a sector in quest of subsidies and aid to a sector that is contributing in the state’s budget. In fact, ICT has contributed annually with an amount of L.E. 35 billion pounds to the treasury. Much of this revenue, he added was generated through the liberalization of the telecom sector. This growth would not have been possible without maintaining transparency as well as reinforcing relations with the national and international peers.” Dr. Kamel noted.

Dr. Kamel then commented on the tremendous growth in mobile penetration. “In July 2004, there were 6 million mobile subscribers; today we’re talking about 44.5 million subscribers,” he said. In fact, the sector witnesses a 1 million new subscriber per month. Similar growth is being witnessed in Internet penetration especially broadband subscribers that surpass 2.5 million users in only one mobile company out of the three companies. This is in addition to the remarkable increase in the number of fixed phone lines as well.”

The Minister delved into the actions of the government of Egypt in its attempts to encourage confidence in markets and stabilize the financial situation, elaborating the ministry’s role in promoting ICT as a vehicle to support the nation and address socio-economic challenges. “This was through launching Egyptian schemes for reinforcing the country’s e-strategies in addition to setting a credible national ICT plan, which seeks to provide intelligent interaction between the government, citizens, and the investment community in a sense of promoting public private partnership”.

He further argued that the e-government project while striving to facilitate Egyptian citizens’ dealings with the government, yet it is also intended to enable technology transfers between local and foreign companies through establishing partnerships. “The success of the government in promoting ICT in Egypt and the framework for what lies ahead already acts as a guide for other emerging countries”.

Dr. Kamel finally underlined that IT is part of the positive aspects of the global financial fallout the world is currently facing and described it as the least affected sector by the crunch in comparison with other sectors. He also added that the ministry of communications and IT has taken principal procedures and moves for containing the fallout of the current global financial crisis by developing ICT tools in addition to structuring services export bases through luring new foreign investments, utilizing human capital development as well as promoting software branding. “Such investments are mainly directed towards internet infrastructure, multilingual electronic content particularly the Arabic content as well as mobile phone services, which could contribute heavily to the economy incentives package leading to gearing job opportunities and sustain economic growth rates”.

Following the minister’s speech, panelists were invited to participate to share their perspective on the significant opportunities available for both the private and public sectors in Egypt for bridging the digital divide as well as spreading ICT tools nationwide and building the foundations of an export-oriented ICT community .

Mr. Alex Shalaby, Chairman, Mobinil, started by an overview on how the global financial crunch has affected Egypt’s ICT sector, he argued that due to the market slowdown, Mobinil has taken certain steps to contain the situation. Among which, he said were introducing new solutions to the market; broadening the penetration besides cutting the company’s internal costs. Mr. Shalaby further elaborated that unlike more advanced markets, revenues growth in Egypt’s ICT sector are still on upward trends and the opportunities for growth have not yet been exhausted as Mobinil enjoys an increasing market share in the Egyptian economy with an annual growth of more than 9%.

Dr. Adel Danish, Chairman and CEO, Xceed, raised several topics, including the sector’s capabilities in outsourcing. He further explained that every crisis has its negatives and positives and in his opinion, this is a good time to leverage Egypt’s strengths in technology by creating an environment friendly for investors. However, he added that several cost-saving measures are taken by most international companies that could be directed to Egypt for outsourcing as a global outsourcing destination, especially in the presence of our skilled experts at a cost structure that is very competitive internationally.

Eng. Amr Ghoniem, Country General Manager, IBM WTC Egypt Branch, followed Dr. Danish’s speech by discussing a number of facets of the financial crisis. He noted that due to the many investment incentives that the government is offering, IBM has recently expanded its presence in Egypt by establishing a delivery center for IBM clients. The Center encompasses around 1500 Egyptian jobs in a way demonstrating how partnerships between government, private sector, multinationals, trade associations and our young and talented workforce is helping to make Egypt part of the global knowledge society. He also explained that IBM’s choice to establish centers in Egypt identifies Egypt’s high value services delivery, as well as the availability of skilled talented pool besides abundant businesses. These key factors, he added; contribute to Egypt’s successful experience in this industry.

Eng. Magdy Khairallah, Chairman, Chamber of IT and Communication then started his discussion by delving into the importance of building an Egyptian system for exporting software, ICT solutions as well as applications produced by Egyptian companies leading to broadening the penetration in to the international markets. He also asserted that these measures might to a great extend restrain the negative effect of the international financial crisis. In addition, he added that several strategies are being implemented by the Ministry of Communications and IT to encourage government spending up to 450 million Egyptian pounds in the ICT sector, leading to increasing local ICT demand and local service demand in Egypt as well.

Eng. Khairallah was followed by the final speaker, Dr. Mohamed Reda, Chairman of the Egyptian Association for IT Exports, which is as mentioned the youngest non-profit, non-governmental Egyptian organization, that incorporates a large number of collaborative companies focusing on IT exports as well as international business relation, including outsourcing and offshore services. It also implements an Egyptian model named “Business Collaboration Model” for promoting Egyptian exports including software programs, applications, and technological solutions produced by Egyptian companies not only regionally but globally in an attempt to combat the financial crisis gloom. Such models, he concluded will not only assist in developing the ICT sector in Egypt, but will utilize Egypt’s competitive advantages from unique location and skilled multilingual work forces as well as investment incentives offered by the government of Egypt.

Following the panellists’ remarks, Dr. Kamel answered questions raised by the audience covering different topics, including the government’s policy towards supporting local ICT companies, introducing computer knowledge in public schools and the expansion of Smart Village.